India, Nov. 11 -- It's been close to two months since the death of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg on September 19, but for his colleague and "very close friend" Papon, it's still hard to come to terms with. "I really don't know how to still react to it. I still keep thinking, 'Yeh ho nahin sakta'. You think like that when someone very close to you passes away. But in Zubeen's case, it is even more profound because of his stature. How can someone who was so rocking all the time just suddenly go like this?" he told us in an interview before his Delhi performance on Saturday. "I was in Dubai that morning when I got the news. Then the news came that he had drowned, which I still somewhere feel could be true. I called Garima (Zubeen's wife) and she just told me 'Aaja tu'. I reached the day his body came back from Singapore. I was still very much in shock," he added. Initially reported as a drowning accident, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announced in early November that the state's Special Investigation Team has found evidence suggesting foul play. The case is now officially a murder investigation, with a chargesheet likely to be filed next month. "If this was deliberate, the culprit should be punished. But all this noise is very unfortunate," he shares, adding, "He has given so much to society through music and art, he deserves peace. We need to find a conclusion to all of this. His soul would never find peace otherwise. I believe in rebirth and afterlife. He must be reborn to create music again." Papon has paid tribute to his friend at every concert since: "I still get numb when I see his picture. He was such an amazing human being. I still cannot quite believe it."...